“What are the lizards playing at?” Morrelia growled.
Commander Chryon chuckled humourlessly as she watched the activity in the port city with unblinking eyes.
“Trying to slither back into our good graces, I don’t doubt. Leadership is still furious with them, to put it mildly. It’ll be decades before relations get back to anything like what they were.”
“Decades. That’s not much to them.”
“True. Hardly even a blip. They may even view it as ...
2024-01-25 05:41:01 +0000 UTC
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It took Tyron several weeks before he managed to fall into a steady equilibrium. Working on the enchantments necessary to keep his store running, teaching Flynn, reestablishing contacts with his suppliers and generally ensuring every aspect of his life as ‘Lukas Almsfield’ was once again ticking along smoothly.
It was shocking to him just how quickly the edges began to fray after so short a time out of the city. Then again, his connections here were relatively new. It too...
2024-01-24 06:44:49 +0000 UTC
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The last chapter took place in the past, and I probably should have indicated that in some way. My bad. Recillia is the noble charged with overseeing the Magisters, and we've met her several times. The previous chapter was a glimpse into her past, when she underwent the Awakening ceremony.
Present day
Recillia kept herself still and regal. Back straight, eyes steady, she projected confidence, her Authority restra...
2024-01-23 03:28:54 +0000 UTC
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Commerce is the lifeblood of Pangera, so the Conglomerates would have us believe. Perhaps it’s even true, but arguing with those scaled merchants and their smug sense of certainty makes me refuse to entertain the idea in public. In the post-Rending world, it was indeed the establishment of trade routes, safe passages carved out between monster nests and Dungeon vents at terrible cost, that once again allowed civilisation to flourish.
Frequently, it was the Abys...
2024-01-22 00:40:08 +0000 UTC
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Ah, the sea. Lake. Sea-Lake. I hate it. Once again I find myself aboard a large tub, surrounded by ships, basically trapped and unable to shift myself, lest the boat tip over. It’s unpleasant, obviously, and it feels a bit vulnerable. Well, it felt a bit vulnerable, before I had a fleet of anti-monster soldiers bearing down on me at all times.
Now it’s downright unnerving.
The Legion remain close by, relatively speaking. Their fleet maintains a reasonable d...
2024-01-21 23:25:17 +0000 UTC
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When the word comes down that we are planning to ship out, the Colony doesn’t muck around. In short order, all ten thousand ants evacuate the nest and the carvers tear it down, flattening out the soil and leaving everything just as we found it. Someone tried to leave a statue standing in the site of the former nest but I obliterated it the moment I saw it.
I swear…
Naturally, the Folk insist on close inspections. We get counted to make sure we aren’t leav...
2024-01-20 10:22:11 +0000 UTC
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Sorry this one is late and a bit short. Feeling sick this week, again. Good lord. I will likely have to push for three bod next week to catch you all up.
“Mind your bearing, young mistress.”
Head servant Indis bore his customary stern expression, further emphasised by the long grey moustache he wore. The old man fussed over the girl, inspecting every inc...
2024-01-19 08:03:36 +0000 UTC
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Not being able to see the woman who stole your heart was, to be blunt, the plops. Now, it wouldn’t have done Isaac’s reputation any good if he’d been seen to be pining, a man had to maintain a certain level of respect amongst his fellow troops, after all.
Yet, deep down, underneath the bluster, the cheer, the jokes and needling, Isaac could admit it to himself. He’d been pining harder than a rustic furniture store.
What was it about Morrelia that captured his mi...
2024-01-17 03:18:40 +0000 UTC
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Great. Just great. I finally get Morrelia to come out here, and she’s berserking. I’m hardly likely to get a decent conversation out of her at this point. So does this mean I’m going to have to fight, make it look convincing, while she goes full wild-style?
That’s… not going to be easy.
For starters, I let my mind constructs pelt her with water bolts, a near endless hail of compressed water balls that slam into her armour with loud, concussive blasts.
No...
2024-01-16 05:31:39 +0000 UTC
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[Hey, what’s happening? How’s your day been?]
No response.
[Look, I don’t want to accuse anyone of being rude, manners are important on both sides of an interaction, but do you have any idea how hard it is to push a mind bridge through that helmet? The least you could do is say hello.]
My opponent, a centurion judging by the look of his armour, does not respond, only raises his shield and blade, preparing to charge. After dealing with eighth and ninth sword members of ...
2024-01-15 03:42:35 +0000 UTC
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The Legion unload their ships, pack their supplies, and move onto the mountain. Apparently they have some barracks or something, they certainly brought quite a few troops. A full Legion, which is five thousand soldiers, plus non-combat staff, apparently. I mean, the Colony has ten thousand, but I don’t like those odds. We have a heck of a lot of carvers in our mix, not exactly our strongest and best fighters. One saving grace is that we brought a decent contingent of mages, more ...
2024-01-13 04:28:00 +0000 UTC
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For whatever reason, the Legion doesn’t look happy to see me, but hey, it’s Morrelia! I haven’t clapped my thousands of lenses of her in ages! I’m tempted to reach out with a mind bridge and say hello, but I get the feeling such an act wouldn’t be welcome. Answering questions about giant monsters trying to contact you the second they see you might be a little awkward for her.
Last time I had a good chat with her, she wasn’t a fully fledged legionary, so obviously ...
2024-01-13 00:58:28 +0000 UTC
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“You want… how many?”
Filetta raised her brows, looking mildly shocked, though he never knew if any show of emotion was genuine with her.
“Speaking honestly…”
“I wouldn’t recommend it,” she flashed him a grin.
“... I’ll take as many as you are willing to give me, but I believe double our prior arrangement will be sufficient for my needs.”
That would be twenty full sets of remains every two weeks.
“And the additional loos...
2024-01-12 00:26:07 +0000 UTC
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Tyron woke in great pain.
“Holy shit,” he groaned. “I think I’m going to be sick.”
His stomach burned with acid, his head pounded, and every inch of his skin felt as if it had been scraped raw. What had happened to him? Trying to remember was too difficult. Trying to think was too difficult. He grit his teeth and forced himself to sit up.
Sheets fell away and he realised he was in his bed, upstairs in the shop, yet he had no idea how he...
2024-01-10 04:21:30 +0000 UTC
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Morrelia drew a deep breath, letting the spray rising from the lake wash over her. Stood at the bow, she had a perfect view of Freehill as it drew ever nearer. Home of the fearsome blademasters and legendary sword schools of the Folk who trained them, it was not a place she had expected to visit, especially in circumstances similar to these.
“We’ll be docking in ten minutes,” roared Commander Chyron. “I want every Legionary prepped for battle. We don’t expect a figh...
2024-01-08 00:15:31 +0000 UTC
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It only takes a couple of minutes before I’m swept into what can only be described as a tornado of well-intended coddling.
[We’ll get you back to your nest immediately,] Eran assures me.
[We managed to get all of your people off the ships,] Marzban follows up. [We received permission once the Folk spotted the Legion fleet coming in.]
[They didn’t come through a gate?]
He looks at me like I’m insane before rushing off to organise the brathian guards w...
2024-01-07 23:20:48 +0000 UTC
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Hello Chrysalis people! We are back! Whoo!
Took way longer than expected to get back into Anthony's head.
[Ha ha! Is this really all the fabled warriors of the Folk have got? I can do this all day long!]
Grey raises his brows as I send my declaration ringing around the stadium, broadcasting to all and sundry in the crowd. The audience, normally reserved and respectful, are well caught up in th...
2024-01-05 08:03:15 +0000 UTC
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AAAaaaaaaaand we're back! Holy moly!
Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday break, great Christmas, joyful new year and all that good stuff! We got some BoD today and Chrysalis tomorrow. I'm travelling saturday but hopefully I can get something else up on Sunday, then back into full schedule on Monday.
Whoo! Let's get it!
Elsbeth couldn’t help but feel anxious as the old man hobbled across the street toward her. Truth be to...
2024-01-04 07:30:42 +0000 UTC
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The issue with accepting help from ‘patrons’, was that they expected something back from him in turn. The Abyss had offered Tyron an incredible wealth of knowledge, secrets that would push his magick beyond his current capabilities, if only he were willing to pay a terrible price. What he had extracted from that blighted place had been paid in literal human souls, a cost which haunted him.
The Old Gods were more mysterious, more fickle. What exactly they did for ...
2023-12-18 01:44:40 +0000 UTC
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This was added to the end of the previous chapter:
You have received the Sub-Class: Death Mage.
Just as there is energy and power in life, the same exists within Death. You have taken steps along this path and shall now reap the benefit. Use your abilities to spread death, and reap your harvest.
Class Attributes per level:
Constitution +1;
Willpower +1;
Poise +1
Skills granted ...
2023-12-15 08:05:40 +0000 UTC
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Yoooooo.
Really sorry for the late notice on this, but I do need to announce I will be taking two weeks off starting on the 20th of December.
Yes, I should have mentioned it sooner. I sincerely apologise to those who've paid their subs but won't get the full month of content.
I take some time off over christmas every year, but I'm always late to say anything about it.
Once again, the strange ant,...
2023-12-13 04:48:49 +0000 UTC
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So… I learned something. It’s possible to shape sword-light into horns. Also… it hurts. I dodge to the side, quick as a flash, and I swear the light curves, following me before it slams into my side with the force of Tiny’s fist. Luckily I was able to angle my body to deflect the majority of the force, otherwise it may have managed to put a crack in my carapace.
Not wanting to be on the receiving end of a never-ending series of similar swings, I deci...
2023-12-12 10:06:01 +0000 UTC
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The famed sword schools of the Folk are as numerous as the leaves on a tree, each a unique and beautiful part of the overall picture.
Some focus on hard hitting, heavy blows that crumple armour and shatter bones even as they cut. Others concentrate on speed, moving with light steps and attacking with hundreds, thousands of sharp slashes. And, of course, everything in-between is represented.
What gives rise to this diversity is, in my opinion, the n...
2023-12-12 05:11:49 +0000 UTC
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Despite most of the peoples of Pangera using their own form of currency - even the bruan’chii used something they called a ‘soul chip’ to trade amongst themselves - there was one universal unit of wealth that was good for business everywhere in the Dungeon.
Cores.
Which was why Smithant and Cobalt had brought a healthy supply from the Colony’s stores with them on this trip, though they had begun to suspect that they may have brought too many. Their brathian guid...
2023-12-12 02:19:03 +0000 UTC
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The Folk are, to some extent, an insular people. They hold a firm belief in relying on one's own strength to accomplish a goal, and as such, don’t like solving their problems through the power of coin. If they are lacking a particular resource, then by far the more honourable course of action is to go out and acquire it for themselves, yet, in a complex world such simple solutions do not always present themselves.
Since the Coalition was formed, that is, the un...
2023-12-11 03:11:20 +0000 UTC
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[Are you telling me her real name isn’t Fluffles?] I demand.
[Of course not,] Grey scowls. [What kind of a name is Fluffles?]
[That’s the name she gave me!]
[I believe I told you before, we do not give out our names so easily. My name isn’t Grey, and my students name isn’t White. These are aliases we use. Our real names are only shared with those we are close to.]
[Wait, so that guy’s name isn’t Barker? Somehow that fills me wit...
2023-12-09 23:50:57 +0000 UTC
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It wouldn’t do to disappear into the cellar for an extended period immediately after he arrived, so Tyron forced himself to postpone. Instead, he got to work ensuring the store was well stocked and supplied.
Which meant he had to take the time needed to go through Flynn’s work and correct his mistakes.
“You haven’t properly accounted for the shape of the core,” he said, indicating the malformed rune. “As a consequence, the matrix isn’t functioning properly...
2023-12-09 08:23:33 +0000 UTC
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The journey through the rift was as brutal as Tyron recalled. Freezing cold temperatures, a seemingly permanent hail of ice and snow, along with the endless roaming packs of kin, savaging the remnants of their fallen world.
It was difficult not to consider what that place might have been, before the rifts had overcome it. A thought that naturally led to another: what would his own world be like, when naught but monsters were left to inhabit it? Such a day appeared closer than...
2023-12-07 10:12:34 +0000 UTC
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Eyyyyyy it's that time again, book announcement time! Whoo!
To all those who've supported bod up to this point, thanks very much! I'm really grateful there are others out there who wanted a nice, gritty Necromancer story and have come along for the ride.
If you have the time and would like to support the release (outside of buying a copy), then I encourage you to leave a rating or a review for the novel on Amazon or Audible. It seriously helps out a ton.
.... here I am doing...
2023-12-07 01:50:24 +0000 UTC
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It doesn’t take that long for my new guards to arrive, although Barker and his apprentice… Fluffles… also stick around.
I mean… FLUFFLES? It’s offensive to mention she has a rabbit nose, but that’s a totally fine name to have, apparently.
Whatever. The cultural idiosyncrasies of the Folk don’t need to make sense to me, they can, and do, call themselves whatever they want. I’m just here to check out the place and sell some end tables.
My new guard i...
2023-12-05 08:05:05 +0000 UTC
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